Cubs at Pirates
The Chicago Cubs' ailing pitching staff will receive a boost when the club visits the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday as Kyle Hendricks is expected to be activated from the injured list following a 2 1/2-week absence due to inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Hendricks' expected return in the second contest of the four-game series comes on the heels of seeing Cole Hamels land on the IL with a left oblique strain.
Hendricks would be wise to keep a keen eye on Josh Bell, who tuned up for next week's Home Run Derby by going deep three times in Pittsburgh's 18-5 romp in Monday's series opener. The Pirates' All-Star first baseman wasn't alone in padding his offensive totals, as Adam Frazier matched a major-league record with four doubles to highlight his five-hit performance. While Pittsburgh has answered an eight-game skid with 10 wins in 16 contests, Chicago has lost three straight and 13 of its last 21 to fall behind first-place Milwaukee in the National League Central. "You talk, talk, talk, and at some point, they just have to start getting it done. Those (mistakes) have been very glaring," Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, NBCS Chicago, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs RH Kyle Hendricks (7-5, 3.36 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Joe Musgrove (6-7, 4.27)
Hendricks sported a sizzling 6-0 record and 1.99 ERA during an eight-start stretch before suffering a loss against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 14. "I haven't set a number, but it's probably between 60-70 (pitches), 75 at most. You don't want to get greedy on the first time back," Maddon said of the pitch count for the 29-year-old, who tossed a bullpen session on both Wednesday and Saturday. Starling Marte (3-for-21) and Bell (3-for-17) have struggled mightily versus Hendricks, who is 4-5 with a 3.13 ERA in 13 career starts against the Pirates.
Musgrove won his second straight start and improved to 3-1 in his last five after scattering nine hits over six scoreless innings in a 10-0 rout of his former Houston team on Thursday. The 26-year-old fell to 2-2 with a 1.37 ERA in four career starts versus the Cubs on April 11 despite allowing two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 frames. Anthony Rizzo (0-for-10) and Javier Baez (1-for-12) have been flustered by Musgrove, although Jason Heyward (3-for-10) has fared significantly better.
WALK-OFFS
1. Chicago 3B Kris Bryant has recorded 24 hits and scored 13 runs in his last 18 games.
2. Pittsburgh 3B Colin Moran, who collected a career-high five hits in the series opener, has registered five RBIs in his last five contests.
3. Baez belted a solo homer on Monday to give him 11 hits - including three blasts - nine RBIs and seven runs in his last nine games.